hi all,

i just picked up this little kit the Italeri M998a1 and i was wondering before i start work on it what issues there were that needed correcting to make it accurate.

all hints and tips welcome

The most obvious is the inclusion of its awful plastic tires from the past. And it includes an M60A3, which has not been used for a while. I've seen some special force units having it in their humvees before though. So maybe rarely.
It is very similar to Academy IED kit.
Have fun.

As a side note, the Army used M60's in Iraq at least through 2004. I was co-located with a Psyops unit that was still using one in July 2004. The 2nd ACR was still using M60D's in their Blackhawks at that time as well.

So possibly only until 12 yrs ago.

It is a decent kit, with a few issues. The biggest is the wheels, as mentioned above. The front bumper needs to be replaced as well. It is should have three holes, but the kit one represents a pre-production one with four holes. There are other smaller errors as well. Here is an article by Rob "MAJ Rob" Gronovius on Italeri's HMMWVs that includes this one as well.

Thanks for the info.

The kit builds as a US marine vehicle in Iraq circa 2004, so where do I stand regarding M60 and other weapons and kit?

Hi David,

I've done this model two years ago and that's what I've changed on it:

wheels (DEF Model RT II type)
seats (Tamiya parts)
dashboard (Tamiya part) the Italeri one is uncomplete
steering wheel (Nemrod) Italeri one is a bit too big.
Ventilation duct (scratchbuilt)

air filter inlet (Tamiya part)
missing tool rack (Tamiya part)

side mirrors (Legend Productions) Italeri ones have a wrong shape

missing radio (Academy)

rear antenna mount (scratchbuilt)with resin antenna (Djiti's Productions)


bonnet locking (scratchbuilt) Italeri ones are horrible.

Add a mesh below the bonnet.

the roof cover is too short !! I had extended it with 1,5mm wide plastic sheet
exhaust pipe with better looking mesh(Tamiya part)
Windscreen wipers (scratchbuilt) Wrong type on the kit !

MK19 with gunner shield (Live Resin)
M6 Pedestal reworked



front bumper with three holes (Tamiya part below) Italeri parts are wrong

Need to block the big holes on each side of the engine compatment.

shackles and towing hook(Tamiya parts)

I built the Italeri M998 (kit name Commando Hum-v) back in 2013. I am waiting for someone to bring in the new M998A1 kit (or I'll order it online later in the year).

The Italeri M998 is a decent kit. The hood sits right, the parts go together well (way better than the older Academy Humvees) and it just looks better in general than Academy's offerings.

I did add the mesh under the hood and I replaced the crap tires with a set that came in the Academy M1025 set. There are two bumpers in the kit, the correct one with three holes has two tiny holes added (don't know why). I would stay away from the 'bull bar' in the kit. I never saw that type on any Humvees other than Spec Ops ones.

As for the M60E3, leave it out. If you're going to build a Marine Corp Humvee circa 2004, you'll need a M240G machine gun or an M249 SAW (full length, full buttstock). Live Resins offers both, and they're great! Some Army and National Guard units had M60's, but they were the normal Vietnam era.

However, below is a picture of a Navy Seabea on an M998 in Iraq (circa 2003). He is manning an M60E3.So you could still keep the E3, so long as you build any figures that you place on the vehicle as Navy Sailors. The nice thing there is that older figures wearing BDU's and the older PASSGT flak jackets will work well.

many thanks for all the help and advice on the kit. I would like to ask about the interior, were they kept clean or was there a lot of military clutter and other items such as empty soda cans, magazines etc?

From what I have seen, US military vehicles had more gear/equipment stowed on them during the invasion in March/April 2003.

If you want to depict a Marine M998 in 2004, they would not have as much stowage (as units were operating out of Forward Operating Bases - FOBs). Packs and personal gear would be visible, as well as ammo for a mounted machine gun or grenade launcher. As for the interior cab, commercial water bottles, energy drink bottles, some personal gear, spare rifle magazines (M16)/grenades radio equipment and such. Not sure that magazines would be taken out on an operation, I would leave those off. The cab of the M998 is not that big, so it would be best to not have too much clutter in it.

Have a look at some of these photos, they may help:







In the above picture, look at the space there is to work with. Remember that too much clutter can also make it difficult to use the radio and fire your weapon from inside the cab if need be.

Thanks for the pictures I will get a better look at them when I get home from work as they are not showing up on my mobile phone.

A few pics on "Primeportal"

http://www.primeportal.net/hmmwv_m998.htm

http://www.primeportal.net/oif/humvee_iraq_1.htm

http://www.primeportal.net/teasley/humvee.htm

http://www.primeportal.net/trucks/rich_sahli/guntrucks_in_iraq/index.php?Page=1

http://www.primeportal.net/hummers/brent_sauer/humvee_photos.htm